NewsTreasure CoastRegion St Lucie CountyFort Pierce

Actions

FHP trooper remembered on anniversary of death

Joseph Bullock shot dead along I-95
Trooper Joseph Bullock
Posted at 2:29 PM, Feb 05, 2023
and last updated 2023-02-06 01:44:15-05

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Friends and family of Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joseph Bullock slain three years ago gathered to remember him Sunday morning.

Bullock was a state trooper for 19 years and Air Force veteran who shot and killed on Interstate 95 in Palm City.

On Feb. 5, 2020, he had stopped to assist a disabled vehicle, according to investigators.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says the driver of that vehicle became enraged over having to pay for a tow truck driver and subsequently killed the trooper.

An off-duty Riviera Beach police officer then stopped, and shot and killed the suspect.

Loved ones traveled in a procession from the Fort Pierce FHP District to the memorial site near Mile Marker 107.

A badge with Bullock's call sign of 595 and celebrated was displayed.

The event has taken place every year on the anniversary of his death.

"After Joe passed, we found out we had 3,500 families members in our family we had never met before," Jon Bullock, the father of the trooper said. "And so now we have a family, and we are a family. We are a thin blue line family.